Author

People often say when nominated for an award, “It’s an honor just to be nominated.” Sometimes it’s true. Forward Reviews is a such a well respected and long standing publication, I extremely honored to be a finalist . Conjuring Casanova is a finalist in the Romance genre in the Forward Reviews Book of the Year competition. The competition is extremely stiff so don’t expect an “I won” post, but I just needed to share this with you.

Here is the link to the finalist. Check it out and wish them all well as I do. If you would like to wish a little extra hard for me to win, I wouldn’t mind. Good Luck everyone and thank you Forward Reviews for this honor. https://awards.forewordreviews.com/finalists/2016/

It is hot. People are screaming and slamming the other side’s political beliefs on national television. I binged up all my favorite Netflix shows and will have to wait another year for new episodes. My favorite jeans are too tight and the air conditioner is making a scary noise. What to do? It’s the perfect time for the real escapes of vacation, or the very simple escape of a good book.

Venice, Rome, Paris, Vienna, California’s wine country, all worthy destinations to recharge one’s soul. If you can’t ride a gondola, climb the Eiffel tower, or look up at the Sistine chapel ceiling, you can still make a break for it. Just download or pick up a new book and run away.

I have to admit, I often choose a book by its cover. That’s probably why I chose the one I did for Conjuring Casanova. It looks like a Venetian fairy tale and it really is. ER doc Lizzy Hillman escapes to Venice and Paris with an eighteenth-century libertine. How much fun would that be to read after a long day?

The perfect beach read…frothy yet satisfying like a good ice cream soda

It ain’t always fun and it ain’t always easy, but you can’t give up on your dreams. Wiser folks than me have said this in much better ways. I just want to take a little time, this holiday weekend to remind you of something you probably already know. Our dreams are the best of us after all. Sometimes, our dreams become impossible for many reasons. What to do? Reach right up and grab another one. Is there anything more exciting than a new dream? ER doc Elizabeth Hillman dreams of the perfect lover in Conjuring Casanova. If you know me at all, you know I dream up stories and want to share them. I would love to hear about your dreams. Tell me what is the dream that feeds your soul?

The perfect beach read…frothy yet satisfying like a good ice cream soda

Today I am a published author! Conjuring Casanova is officially published, June 7th, 2016. It has been out in the world in a limited way for a while. I have done one reading and signing in Washington DC and many of my wonderful friends and family have pre-ordered and already have their books. Today, is the day it is real to me.

People ask me all the time, “Have you always wanted to write?” The answer is, “Of course.” You are born a writer even if you never have the courage to write a word for anyone to read. You may be born with a certain amount of talent. Stephen King thinks so and says in his book, On Writing, “Great writers are born.” He goes on to say that is rare and most writers must work very hard to become a good writer. I certainly hope he is right. That’s my plan.

The joy of writing is not just in the weaving of words but in the sharing of the stories. It is in the fact that when you share your words, you can touch others in ways you can’t imagine. Holding the book in my hands was a little teensy bit thrilling, but when I opened it and my eyes fell on the printed words, I felt it. Those are my words and now they can be shared.

There are so many people to thank I could fill ten blogs. There’s an idea. I do have to thank Giacomo Casanova who died in 1798. That funny, sad genius of a man came into my life unexpectedly through his words. He shared his history and his deepest feelings with me in his memoir, Histroire de Ma Vie.

His words inspired me in so many ways. His reputation was certainly not something to emulate and was never really my interest at all. I was struck by the opportunity to share the inner thoughts of a singular man from another century. Casanova never blamed others for his misfortune. One of his greatest was that he never found a single lasting love. He sure looked hard enough. While his sadness touched my heart, it the undeniable passion in his words that inspired me. It was in the intimate sharing of his story that I found value. I loved the vivid details of his daily life so passionately related. Thank you Giacomo Giracamo Casanova and thank you to my readers past, present, and future for allowing me to share with you. This is a journey we can take together.

I know readers are curious souls and I thought you might want to share the thoughts that went through my head and led me to write Conjuring Casanova. I was writing a three-book romance series which someday may see the light of publishing. It takes place in 1760 and if one is going to have romance in the eighteenth century, some understanding of the women’s underwear of that time is a must.

I worked the internet and found, “No better recordings of the ins an outs of daily life in the eighteenth century can be found than in the pages of Giacomo Casanova’s memoir, Histoire de Ma Vie.” I ordered one volume; there are twelve. In the pages I discovered this crazy-for-life, hilariously honest and gifted writer sharing forty-nine years of his everyday life. The other eleven volumes quickly filled my shelves.

I knew nothing about the man. His rep was certainly not attractive. He knew plenty about ladies undies back in the day. He was the quintessential womanizer. How could I like him so much through his words? Yet every time I read his words I felt like “my friend” was talking to me. A friend who just happened to be an eighteenth-century libertine.

One day as I held my friend’s book on my lap, devouring his words, I asked myself a simple question: What would I think of him if he was here today? Et voilà, Conjuring Casanova was born. The picture, a not-so-subtle reference to a man who spent his life in the unending pursuit of the flower of womanhood. As it happens, “Melissa” means honey bee, so how could I resist this pretty picture?

Giacomo Casanova had a taste for games of chance and often tried to make a living from gambling. Faro was his favorite. It was a card game much like modern Mini Baccarat. As a man, your chance in a game with Casanova would be equal, as he never cheated and often lost. As a lady, however, you would always win. He couldn’t bear to take your money. But how would he play “the poker of the stripping” in 2016?

In Conjuring Casanova ER doc and modern woman, Elizabeth Hillman learns how far the game can go when she leaves her friends with the great seducer and returns to find…a 21st century party going on. Imagine that?! Get the details, pre-order now!